Maria Mutola ‘adamant’ she’s retiring at end of season

Olympic champ Maria Mutola is still near the top of her game, the 800, but she told the IAAF she’s bound and determined to hang up her spikes, even though she’s only 35. So be it. But it’s cool that the M-word is popping up with regularity. The IAAF reports: “On a statistical note, Mutola joined the Master category last 27 October when she turned 35, but she laughingly comments: ‘Frankly, I don’t think of that. The only important thing for me is to reach the goals I have set in Valencia and Beijing. I believe 35 is a perfect age to say at the end of the season, ‘OK, time to get off.’ Possibly I will compete a few times at the permits scheduled after the Olympics but my decision to retire from athletics is adamant.”